


gone and going

by lostintheclouds321



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: ? I think, Amnesia, Bucky Barnes & Peter Parker Friendship, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra Bucky Barnes, Hydra Kidnaps Peter Parker, Kidnapping, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, POV Bucky Barnes, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Phrase Repetition, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Protective Bucky Barnes, Unreliable Narrator, Whump, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29474313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostintheclouds321/pseuds/lostintheclouds321
Summary: The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear.He doesn't know who Peter Parker is or why he keeps calling him Bucky but he doesn't exactly care to find out.All he knows is there is no escape from Hydra, he simply has to wait for his next mission.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80





	gone and going

**Author's Note:**

> been thinking about this idea for the past year  
> it's basically the inverse of my other Bucky & Peter fic (I'll tag it at the end)  
> for context, this takes place,, hmmm, after winter soldier, but no civil war and bucky was in rehab for a bit and peter is spiderman already and tony already kinda took him in so they’ve all interacted and whatnot

The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear. The lights in here are bright and shine directly into his eyes. He’s laying on an uncomfortable cot. He turns over to try and get rid of the ringing with pressure, but all that happens is greasy hair falls into his eyes. But now, he can see more of the room and that he’s not alone.

Across the room on the other cot is another person. He’s much smaller than the Asset. His hair is a light brown and filled with curls. Somehow, this other person is managing perfectly fine to sleep on the cot. In fact, he almost looks peaceful, sleeping there.

It makes the Asset wonder what he did to end up _here_. The Asset doesn’t know exactly where _here_ is but he knows it’s not a place for good people; he’s here after all. The Asset doesn’t know much about himself, but he’s positive that he’s not a good person. For example, just sitting here, with nothing on hand, he can think up a number of ways to kill the boy in front of him. That’s not something that would come to him naturally – he probably had to work to get that awful information.

The Asset rolls over and pushes himself into a sitting position on the cot. His head is still ringing. He looks all around the room. There’s not much more than the two cots; all he sees is a sink, a toilet, and a giant metal door. There’s a slot in the middle of it. Just from looking at the door, the Asset already knows that there is no way out of here – maybe if he had some explosives and a way to place them properly.

But his inability to escape is something that was ingrained in him from the beginning. The beginning of what? There’s no answer to that question. Probably since he was created.

The Asset doesn’t know much about himself, but he knows so much about his goals and missions and abilities. Except, right now, there’s no clear mission at the front of his head and he can’t figure out why. What’s the point of him even being awake? He lets himself slouch just slightly and he lets out a deep breath.

The Asset isn’t meant to just exist. He’s been put together for a reason. It’s not a good reason – he knows that at his very core. Nothing about what he does is good. But it’s his job, and no one else is going to do it.

There’s a slight groan from the boy and the Asset’s eyes snap over to the source. He’s waking up. The Asset watches as he gains consciousness, trying to gage what kind of person this mysterious figure is. How do they move? Are they strong? Is he a threat?

The boy stretches with his eyes still closed before looking over at him. He stops mid yawn and seems to realize just where they are. He lets out a surprised gasp as he takes in the room before looking back over at the Asset, “Bucky? Where are we?” he asks, his voice is wavering and the way he’s looking at the Asset makes him slightly uncomfortable. It’s like he _trusts_ the Asset. It’s a fool’s task as the Asset is only good at killing.

And that name. It seems so familiar yet so foreign. The Asset can’t remember ever being called something so casual. He doesn’t think it suits him. Even still, he takes the name upon his lips and mimics the word back at the boy, “Bucky,” it shouldn’t sound so right, but it does, “We’re here. Who are you?”

They look surprised by the question, “What? It’s me, Peter!” The Asset makes no move to show that he recognizes that name. “I’m, well, I probably shouldn’t say it here, but,” he lowers his voice to a whisper and says, “Spider-Man,” like that should mean something to him.

The Asset has never had a partner in his line of work but he can’t imagine having one with such a basic name. He says nothing and the boy – should he call him Peter or Spider-Man? – wilts into the cot, “I can’t believe you don’t remember me. Were we taken? But by who? The last thing I remember is,” he hums, “Actually, I can’t remember what we were doing last.”

“You shouldn’t be able to remember anything at all if you’re here,” the Asset informs him like it’s _his_ fault.

Peter looks a bit cowed and sad, “With you like this, I feel kind of alone. I hope you remember soon.”

He pulls his knees up to his chest and tucks into them, “I won’t. I’m not meant to,” the Asset tells him. There’s a moment of silence between the two of them and the Asset can’t help but wonder, “Who is Bucky?”

The boy looks shocked at the question, “You are.”

“No, I’m the Asset.”

It’s clear that Peter wants to argue with him on this, but he doesn’t, “Fine, be that way. But Bucky is,” Peter looks at him and their eyes lock for a second, then he turns away and continues, “I guess, he’s kind of like a brother to me. All of the Avengers feel like family. Bucky is funny in unexpected ways. One second you’ll be completely stone faced, but then the next, you say the funniest thing. You make me laugh a lot.”

“But you’re also really strong! In a super cool way! You’ve taught me a lot about fighting; even though you and Nat sometimes argue over it, I always appreciate it. And I love watching movies with you! We just watched The Hitman’s Bodyguard and you kept talking about how bad they were at it,” Peter says with a laugh.

The Asset thinks on this for a second because it all sounds so familiar. But he doesn’t think he’s ever watched a movie before – those types of luxuries were not meant for him. Yet, this Peter character is talking about everything like it’s the opposite and he _has_ when the Asset has never even had the chance.

Peter’s face softens, “I just really miss you. It’s not the same when you’re like this. You’re not the same. Can you please just try to remember? Me? Or Steve? Maybe even Sam!” Peter suggests to him, “I know you’re in there, Bucky.”

It’s not the Asset’s job to remember anything, but there’s just something about this kid that almost makes him want to. Is it because the longer they’re here together, the more he starts to seem familiar? Maybe there’s something in the Asset’s eyes that resembles recognition because Peter stands up and heads over to him.

Peter sits on his cot and looks at him, “Bucky,” he says.

And the Asset doesn’t want to resist the name as much as he did in the beginning. If he _does_ remember, will it even be worth it? What will he find about himself? The Asset was created for a purpose. Does Bucky have a purpose? Does he _need_ one?

“I- Peter?” he asks.

The teen’s eyes brighten, “Do you remember?” he asks excitably. No one has even been this excited for the Asset.

But for Bucky, the ringing in his ear is louder than ever before but he ignores it and tries to think as hard as he can. About Peter and the names he said and being someone ‘cool but funny.’ It’s not the Asset, but it feels like _him_. And he is-

There’s a shock directly on his back and it shoots straight down his spine. The Asset’s entire body goes rigid and he falls onto the cot. Peter is frantic above him and screaming. He hears the door open just as everything fades away.

The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear.

With a groan, he pushes himself up in the cot. His body is weak and when he flexes his fingers in his flesh hand, they barely respond. The Asset has never felt like this before. He wonders how long he’s been asleep for. Were there simply no missions for him to complete?

That was strange. He was never woken up without a reason. There were always people surrounding him and filling him in on what he needed to do. Now, he’s in a completely empty room. He’s sitting in one of two cots and wonders if the second is meant for someone else.

Locked in the room, with nothing to do, the Asset settles on laying back in the uncomfortable cot and staring up at the ceiling. When he is needed, someone will come to get him.

Alas, the Asset never fully falls into sleeping, but he gets relaxed enough that when the door opens, it startles him. He jolts up and stands out of the bed. However, he’s not greeted with the familiar sights of doctors and generals with files, ready to tell him what to do. Instead, there’s a boy who’s just been shoved into the room.

He has curly brown hair and is wearing the same sweats that the Asset is. What is he supposed to do with this? The boy didn’t look like much of threat, lying on the floor like that. He’s curled into his stomach and there’s blood in his hair and dripping down his arms.

The boy pushes himself off the ground into a sitting position. He looks like he’s in shock. It’s unsettling to the Asset but he doesn’t know why. He rationalizes it as not being completely familiar with emotion – but he wouldn’t feel like this if it were just that, would he? No, the Asset knows himself better than that. These emotions are a mystery to him and they shall remain so.

There’s no reason for him to delve into his own mind.

The boy looks over at him and his eyebrows sink down. He looks like he’s in pain but he isn’t making a sound. The Asset wonders what is wrong with him. He doesn’t dare ask. Instead, “Who are you,” he barks at the kid so that it sounds more like an order.

“Peter,” he says in a raspy voice, “But it’s not like you’ll remember it, anyway. Will you, Bucky?”

“That’s not my name,” the Asset says.

‘Peter’ looks heartbroken and puts his head into his hands. He’s still for a second before he starts sobbing. At first, they’re quiet sobs – only seen in the way his back heaves with every breath. But they don’t stay quiet. Gradually, his voice catches up to his sobs and they echo throughout the white room.

The Asset is not a comforting figure. In fact, he was usually the reason people needed to be comforted in the first place. All he’d ever done was take lives and ruin others. Not once has he ever reached out to a person in order to make them feel less shitty. It was a skill he simply didn’t have. The Asset had no use for a skill like that.

But seeing the boy cry is _worse_ than seeing him hurt. It enough to make the Asset believe that they really did know each other. The Asset doesn’t think anyone could cry this much over someone they didn’t know.

Something about seeing Peter in such agony ignites something in the Asset that he’s never had before. He feels protective in a way. Now wasn’t that a joke. The killing machine has developed feelings. Unwillingly, he takes a step forward and another step and he keeps going until he’s right in front of the small figure. He crouches down and looks at Peter.

It’s not his job to comfort a crying child, when he reaches out, it’s because he simply couldn’t stop himself. His hand comes to rest on Peter’s shoulder, but he only gets a flinch in return and brown eyes glaring straight at him, “Why don’t you remember me, Bucky!? We were so close!”

The Asset falters. This is his fault and he can’t do anything about it. But it shouldn’t feel this frustrating! It shouldn’t feel like anything at all. But he doesn’t stop. He puts his hand down once more and this time, Peter stays still.

They stay like that for only a few seconds because it’s broken by Peter leaping forward and hugging him. Lithe arms wrap around his neck and an action he’d previously considered a threat is now one of a certain type of intimacy.

The Asset doesn’t know what to do, but Bucky _does_.

The instant he returns the hug, there’s a shock that stops everything for him.

The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear. The room he’s in is echoing with a voice he instinctually knows he has to listen to. In a fluid motion, he swings out of bed and onto his feet in a stiff position. He’s alert instantly.

Standing at the door is a man in typical Hydra garb. He has a stern look on his face and the Asset is awaiting orders. But he can’t help from watching the other person in the room from his peripheral. They seem to be a teenager as they tiredly push themselves out of the cot.

They come to full standing and the Asset can tell that they’re a boy – well built but weakened by something. On the inside of his elbow is mottled bruising that looks days old. The Asset doesn’t waste time on thinking about what it could be because the Hydra officer is already barking orders at them, “Today, you’re going to be teaching Prisoner #78983 about the different weapons you’re trained in. We want him to be ready, even if we haven’t quite figured out how to use him,” the agent tells the Asset.

Prisoner #78983 protests rather loudly, “I have a _name_ you know, it’s Peter.”

The officer says nothing on this but pulls a small remote out of his pocket. He presses down on the only button it has and Prisoner #78983 yelps and slaps a hand to his neck, right where there is a thin metal collar attached. “You _don’t_ have a name, here.”

The Asset says nothing on this, just continues to stare straight at the officer. But somewhere inside him, he wants to snap. The Asset has never felt angry before, and certainly not on the behalf of others. Emotions simply didn’t suit him. But here he is, feeling something.

He buries it deep down and pretends it didn’t happen.

Prisoner #78983 doesn’t snark back or say anything, but the Asset knows that were he to look around the boy would probably have a glower on his face. He could practically feel it.

The officer now directs his voice towards the Asset and says, “Can you please _escort_ Prisoner #78983 and follow me to the weapons room?”

The Asset nods, because what else is he supposed to do and heads over to the boy. He manhandles him so that both of his arms are around his back and held in the grasp of the metal arm. He isn’t completely harsh about it.

They then follow the officer out of the room. They’re walking down a hallway when Prisoner #78983 turns his head to look at the Asset and says, “You know, Bucky, I could probably take you down right now. I’ve won some of our spars before – if only because of my strength.”

He says nothing in return but strengthens his grip to be safe. He’s positive that he’s never sparred with or even met Prisoner #78983 before in his life. The Asset doesn’t have time for things like that.

Prisoner #78983 groans, “You’re so boring now. You’re just going to let me challenge you and do nothing about it? Lame,” he pouts like a child. But the Asset supposes that is exactly what he is. In the back of his head, a voice tells him that that is exactly why he shouldn’t be here in the first place. The Asset does well to ignore it.

The officer comes to a stop and the Asset follows suit. He opens a door and motions for the two of them to go in before he locks it behind them – leaving himself outside. The Asset doesn’t particularly care but the prisoner in his grasp turns to the sound of the door slamming shut. He lets go of the teen and Prisoner #78983 shakes out his arms, “It’s kind of weird that they’d just let us alone in a room full of weapons,” he says.

The Asset doesn’t understand but doesn’t ask for clarification either, “Come on over here,” he says before heading over to an empty table. There’s a gun disassembled on it. He supposes he’ll have to teach him how to put it together, “Prisoner #78983, have you ever used a gun before?” The Asset asks, looking over at him.

The prisoner’s eyes swell with pain but he shakes his head regardless, “I have no use for guns when I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“Look, no one wants to kill people. But sometimes, we have to. I’m gonna teach you how to put the damn gun together and you’re going to learn.”

“That’s not how it works, Bucky. You _don’t_ have to kill people just because _they_ tell you to.”

The Asset glares at him, “That’s not my name. Now, watch me,” he says. Then he puts together the gun as slowly as he can so that Prisoner #78982 can see everything he does; then he takes it apart as fast as he can.

He steps aside from the table, “Your turn.”

It’s clear that Prisoner #78983 doesn’t want to do it, but he takes the Asset’s place and assembles it faster than the Asset had thought he would. This kid might actually be pretty smart. But I’ll definitely never tell him that. The Asset glares at having the wayward thought, “Now take it apart.”

The Asset watches the prisoner put it together and take it apart multiple times until he’s fairly fast at it. Eventually though, he lets the kid take a break. Prisoner #78983 doesn’t seem happy at all about having to work with the gun but he doesn’t complain much, “This actually reminds me of when Nat was trying to teach me how to use throwing knifes. I wasn’t good at it at all.”

“So, you have bad aim?” he asks absentmindedly.

“Sometimes,” Peter admits, “Like, I have really good aim with my webs and whatever I use them for, but I’d still be horrible at baseball.” The Asset hums along like he understands what he’s talking about, “But at least I can _use_ the webs. I remember when you tried to use them,” Peter lets out a loud laugh, “That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“What happened?” the Asset presses to know.

Peter shoots him a mischievous smirk, “You tried to use them to grab something off the counter and pull it towards you. That didn’t quite go as planned. You hit the counter with the web but pulled it anyway. In the end, you ended up pulling yourself towards the counter and knocking yourself over,” Peter explains in between laughs

“And you’re saying that you’ve never messed up using them? I think Stark has some footage that would beg to differ,” he says.

The teen looks at him with wide eyes, “Okay, Bucky. You’re back. But you can’t make it too obvious. We have to get out of here!”

“What do you mean?” Bucky asks. The question is accompanied by a sharp pain in his head. He’s dealt with worse and tries to follow Peter’s instructions.

“I _mean_ that Hydra has us kidnapped and every time you remember they shock you until you’re unconscious so that they can wipe your memories again!”

“Fuck, that’s not good,” he says. He subtly looks around the room to take everything in. He already knew it was full of weapons, but he can also see that there is only one door here. The only way out is the way they came in. He walks over to one of the shelves of weapons and grabs a gun. The only problem is that it’s empty. Looking around, he can tell that there is no ammo anywhere in the room except in the gun they were putting together. He rushes over to the table and starts to head to the door. He has no doubt that there are people watching them and someone should be coming through the door any second. He tries to act as he should be but when the door opens his first instinct is to jump in front of Peter. 

The gun is held out straight in front of him and pointed at the officer. His finger is on the trigger but he doesn’t pull it. And that’s his first and last mistake.

A shock pulls him to the floor.

The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear. When he gets out of bed, his entire body feels so tired – like there’s a pressure weighing down on him. It’s enough that he wants to get back into the cot, but his eyes catch on a boy. He’s sitting in the cot next to the Asset’s and is staring at the wall farthest from them.

There’s a blank look in his eye. He looks detached almost. The Asset has never seen him like this or seen him at all. The boy is a complete stranger to him. The Asset can’t help but wonder who he is such that the two of them are sharing a room.

“Who are you?” he asks.

The boy looks at him with a slanted smile, “I’m Peter. And you’re Bucky,” the Asset is about to jump in, because that’s not his name, but Peter continues, “I know, I know, you’re _not_ Bucky,” he says with quotes around the name. He strikes the Asset as very tired – exhausted, even.

“We’ve been here for almost a week now. But every time you even come _close_ to remembering, they wipe your memory. And then they try to do the same to me,” he explains.

“It doesn’t work?” the Asset asks him, confused. Hydra had very efficient methods for getting rid of what they didn’t like (ranging from memories to people).

The boy, Peter, shrugs, “It doesn’t. At least, not in any way that counts. I just heal too fast for whatever method they’re using. I think it has to do something with disrupting the neural network. But by the time I wake up, it’s already mostly fixed. Sometimes things are muddied and hard to think of, but I’m still me,” he says.

To the Asset, he seems incredibly lonely.

Peter doesn’t seem to mind that the Asset says nothing in return because he keeps talking, “I’m scared that soon they’re going to find a method that _does_ work. And what happens then? I become like you?” he asks, his voice catching on the last part, “You’re just not the same anymore and I _miss_ you, Bucky. I don’t want to be here anymore,” his voice is thick with emotion.

The Asset doesn’t know what to say. Comforting people is not something he’s skilled in. But Peter doesn’t seem to need it. He snaps back to his senses and looks over at the Asset with big, clear, brown eyes, “We’re going to get out of here. I swear it.”

“I don’t want-“

“That’s not true and we both know it – that’s just something they’ve _made_ you think. Just yesterday, you were ready to shoot your way out. But I know you don’t really like hurting people so-“

The Asset has to wonder just who Peter thinks he is. All that he is _is_ killing people. He’s never done anything outside of that. But now Peter is saying he tried to escape the other day. The Asset can’t remember doing anything like that, but Peter says they’re erasing his memories? Shouldn’t the Asset care more about that? But instead, he regards the concept with dull interest.

“And maybe the Avengers will come for us. Mr. Stark must be looking everywhere!” he says with a twinge of hope in his voice. The Asset doesn’t know how to break it to him that that is impossible. After all, _he_ was never found by anyone from his past – if he even had a past.

Looking at Peter, though, he starts to doubt that. Because if he had a friend in Peter, that meant he had a reason to get out. He looks at the teen talking about how they’re going to make it out somehow and wonders if he has a reason now.

The wiring in his brain, what he’s been taught to think, immediately screams that no, there will never be a reason to leave. He has a job to do and orders to follow. But he’s still left wondering.

Peter stops in the middle of a rant and looks at the Asset, “Bucky, when we get out, we’re going to make you better again. All of us, okay? Because we’re family.”

The Asset is left staring at this teen, trying to keep his face neutral. He isn’t quite sure about who this family claiming him is but it’s enough to leave him thinking that maybe he would follow Peter out if the teen ever finds a way.

He doesn’t get to say anything on that because a Hydra agent bursts into the room, slamming the door on the wall with the force in which he pushes it, “Enough chit chat, you’re getting to sent to spar this time.”

Oddly enough, Peter brightens up but quickly pushes down that emotion when the officer glares at him, “Prisoner #78983, this is not some sort of juvenile field trip,” he says in an authoritative voice.

The Asset feels oddly defensive of the teen he just met a few minutes (but has probably known for longer) but says nothing. When the agent asks him to grab Peter and make him follow the officer, he grabs the teen’s wrists in an almost gentle manner. Peter gives him a kind smile in return and they leave the room together.

The sparring room isn’t very far from their cell as they just turn right and head two doors down. The second both of them are in, the door is locked behind them. The Asset pays no attention to this as it makes sense, especially if Peter is so keen on escaping.

Over the intercom, the Asset is instructed to show Peter a few moves before they engage in real sparring where he shouldn’t be holding back any punches – the Asset isn’t quite sure why they included that last part, holding back isn’t something he’s known for at all.

He starts with showing Peter a fairly easy flip. Peter follows his motions and puts pressure in all of the right places, but he’s also talking nonstop through the entire process. He tells the Asset about someone named Steve who constantly acts like an old man despite looking fairly young.

It all sounds so familiar.

“But Steve can be pretty oblivious sometimes. This one time, we were all out at dinner and someone asked for his number but he thought they wanted an autograph! I felt so embarrassed watching that,” he says and it catches the Asset off guard. This is getting _too_ familiar.

He falters in his position and pushes Peter down the wrong way, “Oww,” he complains, rubbing his shoulder with his hand. Worst of all, it makes the Asset _feel_ bad. Objectively, this is Peter’s fault for distracting him, but that sound triggers something in him.

He resolutely ignores it and confronts Peter, “Be honest, you already know this move, don’t you?”

Peter gives him a sheepish grin, “Guess who taught it to me?” he asks, seemingly rhetorically.

“Fine, then we’ll go through everything and if you get them all we can go straight to sparring.”

The kid pouts, “Don’t you want to hear my stories about the Avengers?” he asks and the Asset says nothing in response, just gets in position for the next move.

They run through different moves for the next few minutes but Peter shows that he clearly knows all of them so he decides it’s time for the two of them to spar. They both get into positions and the Asset readies himself. He thinks that this should be a fairly easy match considering that he’s just going up against a kid, even if said kid already knew all of the moves – but it’s best not to approach a fight with too many expectations.

The Asset makes the first move, he goes in and sends a kick Peter’s way, but the teen dodges it with an incredibly extra flip. He certainly hadn’t seen that coming. He uses the momentary retreat to pull up and aim a punch with his right hand towards Peter’s stomach. The hit doesn’t land but it’s still very close.

It’s almost like Peter can sense his punches even before they land. This is trickier than he’d thought.

Either way, they volley punches and kicks for a minute before the Asset sees a possible opening. He takes his metal arm and rockets it forward towards the kid’s face before realizing just how much power will be behind this punch. It’s more than he really wants for a spar with Peter.

He barely thinks about how the officer told him not to hold any punches when he stops an inch away from Peter’s face. Wide brown eyes stare right at his metal hand and the boy gives him a grateful smile, “Thanks Bucky.”

“Wait, I didn’t,” and then he goes down with a shock.

The Asset wakes up in a cold room. There’s a ringing in his ear. But there’s also someone crying in the background. He gets out of the cot to see a boy crying in the one next to him. He is clutching the thin pillow each of them have on their cots and doesn’t seem to notice the Asset – or if he does, he’s doing an excellent job of ignoring him.

He doesn’t know what to do here. He’s never seen this boy in his life even if he feels like he has. Will he be important in future missions? Should the Asset be trying to help him or just leave him to cope? The Asset can’t remember ever feeling like that himself. He wonders what it feels like. It must be awful to be so overcome with emotions.

He’s always been so goal oriented. He purposely never focused on the lives he took but he knew a lot about the pain he caused. What pain had this teen gone through? The Asset can’t help but wonder if he had a part in it.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. The Asset doesn’t think he’s ever cared about anyone in his life, so this question is quite out of the blue. Where did it come from?

The boy looks at him and a loud sob comes out of him as he wipes his eyes, “I can’t remember them. Why can’t I remember them?”

The Asset has quite a few answers to that, but he doesn’t know what to say. If the kid is losing his memories, then that means Hydra is doing something to him to make him like the Asset. But he’s so young… The Asset shouldn’t be surprised. Hydra has done a lot of bad things, making a child soldier wouldn’t even make the top of that list.

“Who can’t you remember?” he bravely asks.

“My Aunt and Uncle; I don’t even know their names anymore, but they meant everything to me,” he says in such a raw voice that it almost startles the Asset. He supposes that this is another kind of loss, “I didn’t think Hydra would find out a way to do this, but what if I forget everyone? I won’t even be myself anymore,” he laments.

The Asset can’t even say anything to combat that because it’s probably true. The Asset has never quite felt like _someone_ , he’s nothing more than his job and missions. But this kid is more than that – for now, at least.

The kid keeps sobbing and the Asset gets out of his cot. He doesn’t quite know why until he goes to sit on the other one. There’s nothing he can do and probably nothing he should do. But it feels wrong to just let Peter sit over here all alone. Especially when he knows full well that Peter would never leave him to wallow in his pain.

Looking up at the Asset, the kid wipes his eyes, “Bucky,” he warbles out, “Can I just-“ he doesn’t even finish his sentence. Somehow, the Asset knows exactly what he wants. He leans over and hugs the kid without any hesitation.

He has to wonder, if killing people is supposed to be his purpose, then why does this feel so right?

They don’t stay like that long because there’s a rumbling from outside the door. Peter breaks free from the hug and stands up out of the cot, “Do you think they’re here, Bucky?” he asks the Asset.

“Who is here?” the Asset asks, wondering if he should be prepared for a fight.

“Mr. Stark, Steve, they would never just leave us and I _did_ tell you that we would get out of here, didn’t I?” He hadn’t, so it shouldn’t sound so familiar, but it does. “Gosh, I wish I could break out of here. I tried to move the door on the first day, but it’s really secured. It feels kinda lame just sitting here waiting for them, doesn’t it Bucky?” he asks with an understanding smile.

“I don’t even know who _they_ are,” he insists, but he can’t help feeling anticipatory of what is to come.

When a sharp red burn cuts through the door, the Asset lowers himself into a fighting position for whoever comes through. He doesn’t have a mission to take out anyone who enters the cell, but it’s better safe than sorry.

The door comes down with a bang (or at least half of it, as the cut didn’t cover the entire door) and a suit of armor walks through. The Asset vaguely recognizes this suit as Iron Man. He’s never had to interact directly with the hero, but he was made aware of him and how to avoid the hero – but now that very man is here to take them away from Hydra? The Asset isn’t quite sure how to feel. It’s one thing to see someone come to rescue the kid who’s one mental breakdown away from being irreparable, but him.

Then another figure comes through the door. Out of the Asset’s periphery he sees Iron Man approach the kid and take him into an awkward metal hug, but he’s more focused on the entrance where none other than Captain America is standing proud.

But the hero takes one look at the Asset and his brave face melts away, “Bucky,” he says. And isn’t that what the kid had just called him? The Asset feels frozen in place until the kid comes over from his reuniting with Iron Man and grabs his arm, “See, we’re getting out Bucky. You don’t have to listen to them anymore.”

But what does that even mean? He didn’t just listen to them, he was under their control, constantly. There had never been another choice. The way this kid says it, it’s like the Asset is more than that. Was it truly possible?

He’s pushed gently towards Captain America and doesn’t quite know what to do. His first thought is to throw a punch, but that’s not right is it? Does he really know a hero close enough for them to come for him? Captain America leaves no room for questions when he steps forward and hugs him.

And Bucky knows that he is more than the Asset because the people around him have always helped him to push past that.

**Author's Note:**

> [Cold Hands, Warm Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22424545) is my other peter & bucky fic where peter has amnesia instead  
> [my tumblr](https://lostintheclouds321.tumblr.com/) is mostly for bnha tbh  
> I'd really appreciate it if you left a comment and kudos, thank you for reading this <3  
> Jesi~


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